


A Little Familiar

by Rainywriter



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Crack, Familiars, M/M, Magic, Mouse!Jensen, Sorcerer!Jared, Sorcerers, evil twin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-10
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2017-12-29 00:40:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/998805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainywriter/pseuds/Rainywriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for meus_venator's prompt for the Kettle of Trouble meme in the J2 Crack LJ Community. This is probably not at all what she had in mind when she gave that prompt, but it's where my warped mind chose to go with it, so here it is...</p><p>Prompt: Ever wonder how sorcerer's wind up with their familiars? Well J1, a mild mannered IT professional is about to discover that J2, the hipster in marketing isn't all he appears and the word 'Master' will never mean the same thing to him again.</p><p>AU fic where Jensen is an unclaimed familiar, Jared is a clueless sorcerer, it's Halloween and Jared's evil twin just wants to cause trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Little Familiar

**Author's Note:**

  * For [meus_venator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/meus_venator/gifts).



> Pairing: Jared/Jensen  
> Warnings: None really, unless you need a warning for snark.  
> Disclaimer: Obviously not real and not meant to imply reality. This is crack, ladies and gentleman.
> 
> This is not a new fic. I originally had it posted as a series and this is the consolidated version. I may add one more chapter, I haven't decided yet. For all intents and purposes, though, this fic is complete.

One thing Jared could say about  _Seventh Circle Supply Company_  was they really went all out for Halloween. He hadn’t expected it, but then again perhaps he should have considering Seventh Circle was the number one online retailer of magical supplies on the West Coast. This year, Halloween had fallen on a Thursday, so the bosses decided they would simply hold their company party on Friday and make it a hybrid celebration of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. The party was being held in the same local civic center where they held their quarterly meetings, and if Jared thought the office was decorated to within an inch of its life, it was nothing compared to the over-the-top decorations strung pretty much everywhere here.  
  
Jared had sampled way too much of the (obviously spiked) Pumpkin Patch Punch. He had no idea just what was in it, but he was feeling buzzed enough to consider going over to the dance floor and making an ass out of himself. He’d need just a little more liquid courage to actually do it, but there was no doubt in his mind that a.) he’d actually do it at some point tonight and b.) the fact that he was even considering showing his moves on the dance floor probably meant there was a decided wobble in his step. He glanced over to the floor where his braver colleagues were getting down with their bad selves and saw the CEO, Mark Pellegrino dancing (grinding?) with one of the younger, blonder sales associates – Katie something-or-other. Jared had always been bad at remembering names, and after all, he’d only been an IT Technician at Seventh Circle for a month now.  
  
“That’s rather disturbing, isn’t it?” The soft, velvety  _growl_ of a voice coming from behind Jared could only be his supervisor, the  _other_ Mark – Mark Sheppard, Jared’s boss.  
  
“Um, a little bit, yeah,” Jared admitted, unable to tear his eyes away from the debacle despite his every intention to do so.  
  
“That’s a sexual harassment lawsuit in the works, that is,” Sheppard said with a wry twist of his lips. Jared couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped.  
  
“Yeah it is,” he agreed, finally turning to face his supervisor.  
  
“You enjoying the party? Good, good. Hey, I need you do to us a favor. See, we forgot the piñata back at the office, and it’d be a shame not to enter it in the contest. Do you think you could go back and get it?”  
  
“Uh, I’m a little drunk,” Jared confessed. “I shouldn’t be driving.”  
  
Sheppard pulled his wallet from his back pocket and fished out a credit card. “Take a cab. On the company, of course. Have them wait for you at the front door while you run in and get it; leave the meter running.”  
  
Jared took the proffered card. As part of the Halloween festivities, each team had to come up with some unique decoration that would be unveiled at the party. The winning team would receive an extra half-day off with pay to be used with their supervisor’s approval. His team had gone for the easiest thing they could think of – a piñata painted to look like a sugar skull. Sure, it wasn’t traditional for either holiday, but Jared himself took care to make sure that the piñata (and maybe his pocket) was stuffed to the gills with candy.  
  
 _Sugar skulls don’t have gills_! He giggled to himself as he strolled out of the center. Oh yeah, he was definitely drunk. He fished a Tootsie Roll out of his pocket and popped it in his mouth. Okay, yeah, he was probably a little high on sugar as well.  
  


* * *

  
The office lights were lowered to their dimmest setting, casting the cubicles in a soft beige glow that was almost cozy. Jared’s steps were muted by the high-traffic multi-colored carpet that when new had probably been given a festive name like  _confetti_ but now, after years of use, could probably be more properly named  _vomit_. The low light accentuated the stains from spilled beverages and foodstuffs that had been ground in. Jared looked around, taking it all in.  
  
It wasn’t a big office. They were situated on one-half of the third floor of a five-story building and consisted of the inbound customer service/sales associate department, the marketing department and the IT department. The CEO and other head honchos had a row of offices near the front door. Some of the doors were open, others were obviously locked.  
  
The IT department wasn’t too far from those upper level offices, so it should have been real quick, in and out, but just as Jared grabbed the piñata he thought he heard aggressive typing coming from the back of the office – from the marketing department, maybe. Jared wondered who was dedicated enough to their job to skip the party and stay late at work.  
  
Jared figured a few moments more on the meter wouldn’t hurt the company much, and so he grabbed a few pieces of candy out of his pocket and quickly walked towards the cubicles at the back of the office. As he approached, he noticed that whoever was working was wearing a set of costume mouse ears. Not the Disney kind, though – these ones looked pretty realistic. He couldn’t see who was wearing them as they were hunched down enough that – wait, was that  _Jensen_?  
  
Jensen Ackles was, in a word, kind of a jerk. Or at least that’s how he came across to Jared. He gave off a total hipster vibe, despite being way too hot for his (or Jared’s) own good. He usually wandered into work a good fifteen minutes past his shift start with his hair barely combed, thick black-framed glasses and a rumpled sweater hastily thrown over a band T-shirt. And now here he was, working late on a Friday, dressed like a mouse? Oh, there was  _no_ way Jared was letting this one go.  
  
Jared grinned and dropped a few pieces of candy over the edge of Jensen’s cubicle. “Trick or treat,” he announced as the pieces fell onto the desk. Jensen looked up with wide eyes; apparently he’d been so focused on his work he hadn’t noticed anyone else in office with him. And wow, those eyes were really green.  
  
“Cute costume,” he drawled. “You lose a bet, Basil of Baker Street?”  
  
Jensen’s eyes narrowed and his lips pursed just a little. “What are you supposed to be?”  
  
Jared’s eyebrows rose as he looked upward towards his tricorner hat with the giant feather plume. It was pretty obvious what he was, really. Leave it to Jensen to make it sound like his costume was taped together from bits of crap salvaged from the dumpster out back. Granted, Jared had removed his eye patch because it was messing with his equilibrium, but still – he held up the eyepatch that he’d wrapped around one wrist.  
  
“I’m uh, I’m a pirate,” he managed to stutter. “Hat, ponytail, eyepatch-“  
  
“Yeah, okay, got it,” Jensen said dismissively, hand-waving Jared away. “Don’t you have a party or something to be at?”  
  
Jared frowned and wanted to ask for his candy back.  
  
“Yeah, I have to take the piñata back to the party,” Jared said in a tone he hoped didn’t sound too pathetic. “I just saw you here sitting here – in costume, I might add – and thought I’d spread a little holiday cheer. Didn’t think you’d be such a j—“  
  
“You’re drunk, aren’t you?” Jensen interrupted with a sigh. “Please tell me you didn’t drive over here?”  
  
“No I took a cab, and I—“  
  
“Wonderful,” Jensen said sardonically. “Now I can get back to work and – wait, you can see my ears? Really?  _You_?”  
  
“Um, yeah,” Jared said intelligently. The next thing he knew Jensen was rounding the corner of the cubicle and literally throwing himself into Jared’s arms, and hey, he had a tail on too. It was mostly naked, of course, being a mouse’s tail but looked very soft and velvety and –  
  
“Finally,” Jensen breathed, his face maybe an inch away from Jared’s. “ _Master_.”  
  
And then Jensen was kissing Jared.


	2. A Little Confusion

Jared’s brain short-circuited and he dropped the piñata. Kissing Jensen was everything Jared had been trying really, really hard not to fantasize about since he’d first seen him breeze through the office. Part of him thought that maybe he should put a stop to this and figure out what the hell was going on, but Jared wasn’t about to stop. That would be like… trashing a winning lottery ticket or throwing back a prize fish – stupid, and Jared wasn’t stupid. Besides, as Jensen’s perfect lips met his, Jared was consumed with the urge to possess, claim and thoroughly own this man who was, well, usually infuriating.  
  
Jared’s hands fisted in Jensen’s shirt and he pulled him closer. His tongue darted out and memorized the shape of Jensen’s mouth, the seam of his lips and then the feeling of those lips parting, allowing Jared inside. Jared happily explored the inside of Jensen’s mouth, tongues tangling in thrust and retreat, until Jared pulled his mouth away and moved down to the juncture where Jensen’s neck met his shoulders, parting his lips over the heated skin he found there and sucking aggressively.  
  
Mine, mine, mine, Jared thought as he released one hand only to lift it up and run it through Jensen’s hair. Jensen responded with a groan that sounded positively pornographic, and that was what brought Jared back to what little senses he still possessed. Had Jensen really just called Jared Master? Reluctantly – oh, so reluctantly – Jared pulled away from Jensen and took a deep breath.  
  
“Did you call me Master?”  
  
“Of course I did. Because you are. Now claim me already.” Jensen moved back in to Jared’s space as if to kiss him again. Jared placed one hand on Jensen’s chest – better to end this now than to lead him on, and he watched as Jensen’s expression changed from open, naked want to guarded with a touch of annoyance. His lips pinched together tightly and his eyes narrowed, and Jared felt like an asshole.  
  
“You’re a familiar?” Jared was working really hard to focus past the fuzziness of his brain. Of course Jensen was a familiar. Everyone had heard of them – they bonded with a sorcerer and somehow amped up the magic said sorcerer was able to tap into. Jared wasn’t sure of the specifics. Sorcerers and familiars were rare and growing rarer every day, and to find an unbonded familiar rarer still.  
  
“Shoulda dressed up as Sherlock,” Jensen snarked, anger clouding his face. “Look, I get it. Just because you can see the astral manifestation of my familiar form doesn’t mean you necessarily want to claim me. It’s fine. I’ll just – I’ll just get back to work and you can take your lame piñata back to the party.” Jensen turned on his heel and headed back toward his desk.  
  
“Wait, Jensen,” Jared said, rushing after Jensen. Claim him! “I can’t claim you—“  
  
“Yeah, I know,” Jensen said as he sat back down in his office chair. He looked sadly resigned. “No one wants a mouse as a familiar. It’s okay, Jared.” Jensen pressed his hands over his face and sighed. “You should go.”  
  
“No, Jensen,” Jared said, wishing he didn’t have to say what he was about to – wishing he could claim Jensen. Having a mouse as a familiar -- hell, just having a familiar -- would be awesome. “It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just, uh, you see, I’m not a sorcerer.”  
  
Jensen’s head snapped up and he looked at Jared, those green, green eyes flitting over Jared’s face as if looking for the lie.  
  
“That’s impossible,” he said, standing back up. “You can see my ears.”  
  
“Tail too,” Jared said with a small grin. “It’s cute. They’re cute. I mean, I thought you were in costume.”  
  
“Do I seem like the kind of person to dress up for Halloween and then work late?” Jensen asked with a frown. “You being an idiot is beside the point. What do you mean you’re not a sorcerer?”  
  
“I’m just not, Jensen,” Jared said, his eyes focusing on his boots. “I mean, God, if I was, I’d claim you in a heartbeat. But I’m not. There are no sorcerers in my family and everyone knows it’s genetic. I may have had a half-uncle or a great-uncle or a something-uncle at some point who was a sorcerer but—“  
  
“Were you ever tested?” Jensen asked suddenly. “Did you ever show any signs of being a magic user as a kid?”  
  
Jared laughed. “My mother always said my ability to put away food had to be magical, but no, nothing. I’m perfectly normal.” Jared winced as the word normal passed his lips. Jensen arched an eyebrow – obviously he took at least a little exception to that term. “Besides, I’d have to be the offspring of a sorcerer and a familiar in order to be a sorcerer myself, and my parents are so mundane it’s – it’s, well—“  
  
“You talk too much,” Jensen said, crowding back into Jared’s personal space. He licked his lips. “If you don’t mind a mouse familiar and there’s even a chance you could claim me, Jared? Hell, I wouldn’t mind you giving it a try.”  
  
Jared could somewhat understand Jensen’s seeming desperation. Familiars needed sorcerers – they weren’t driven to bond with anyone else. Most familiars were bonded to their sorcerers by the time they were in their early twenties and Jensen was older than that by at least a decade. Sorcerers could date, marry, mate (whatever one wanted to call it) with humans if they desired to, and no, it wasn’t fair, but that was the way of the world. Familiars, however, had to find sorcerers or face a long, lonely existence. No wonder Jensen was bitter at the world.  
  
So claim him already! The voice in Jared’s head was getting louder and more aggressive.  
  
“I don’t know how!” Jared practically shouted, startling both himself and Jensen. The corner of Jensen’s mouth quirked up.  
  
“That’s okay, Jared,” he said, taking Jared’s hand in his. He placed Jared’s hand on his stomach and leaned in to kiss him again. Jared quickly got with the program and let their lips meet, this time slow and lazy. Jensen tugged on Jared’s hand until it slid down to meet the waistband of his jeans and all of Jared’s blood rushed south, leaving him feeling slightly dizzy and more and more turned on with every second.  
  
“Show me,” Jared said, his voice lowered to a near whisper. He let his hand slip lower, and lower still, and wow, that was definitely more than a handful there. He gently squeezed and drew a surprised gasp from Jensen.  
  
“Yes,” Jensen hissed, the word drawn out so that it sounded more snakelike than mouse. “Claim me, Master.”  
  
And there was that word again, that word that seemed to be hot-wired to Jared’s dick.  
  
“Shit,” Jared said with sudden realization, pulling away. “The cabbie!”  
  
“The what now?” Jensen asked, his voice gone breathy.  
  
Jared leaned in for another kiss. “The cabbie – the cab I took to get over here from the party – he’s still outside with the meter running.”  
  
“Shit,” Jensen agreed. “Go send him away then, and come right back. Okay?” Jensen pushed his hips forward, giving Jared more than enough incentive to get the cabbie the hell out of there as quickly as humanly possible. Jared nodded and took three deep breaths to calm himself before taking off running, managing three lengthy strides before remembering to grab the piñata.  
  
He made it down to the lobby and out the front door in record time, using every little bit of charisma he possessed (plus a quick phone call to his supervisor and the promise of a large tip) to talk the cabbie into taking the piñata back to the party for him. Jared watched the taxi take off and didn’t bother suppressing the grin that formed when he thought of who was waiting for him back in the office.  
  
Claim claim claim possess own, the voice in Jared’s head repeated like a mantra. He ran back into the building, not bothering with the elevator and taking the steps two, maybe three, at a time.  
  
“Jensen,” he wheezed when he finally made it back to the marketing department. Confused, he looked around at the empty desks and tried to catch a glimpse of Jensen, but to no avail.  
  
Jensen was gone.  
  
What the hell?


	3. A Little Trouble

Jared tried to remember if Jensen had said to meet him someplace else, and his eyes did one more sweep of the department before his shoulders sagged in defeat. Had Jensen been toying with him, not really wanting to be claimed? He turned to leave, wishing he’d just gone back to the party instead of sending the cabbie off by himself with the piñata. Jared fished a saltwater taffy out of his pocket and popped it in his mouth. At lease he still had his candy. And hey, the two pieces he’d dropped on the desk for Jensen were still there. Jared grabbed them quickly and stuffed them back in his pocket. That would teach Jensen to just ditch him like that—  
  
“Hey, I thought those were for me.”  
  
Jared swung around on his heel, searching for the source of the voice. It sounded like Jensen, but smaller, but Jensen wasn’t here, and—  
  
“Down here, Capitan,” Jensen said, and Jared looked down to see a mouse standing by his foot. It was adorable, and Jared couldn’t stop the goofy grin that split his face. Not only was Jensen’s familiar form a mouse, it was ananthropomorphic mouse wearing the same style of glasses and plaid pants held up by a pair of suspenders.  
  
“Oh my God, you really are Basil of Baker Street!” Jared gushed.  
  
“Jared shut up, you have to hide! There’s someone—“  
  
A low growl cut Jared off in mid-sentence, and he turned around to see a very large wolf stalking toward him, its head low to the floor and the fur on its back raised in hackles. Jared’s eyes widened. How did a wolf get into the office – and perhaps more importantly, why?  
  
“Hey little brother,” a familiar figure came into view as he rounded the corner by the break room and strode confidently in Jared’s direction. Jared would recognize that height, that build, that hair anywhere. It was, of course, like looking into a mirror. Well, almost. Jared often wondered if his twin brother had had that sneer surgically attached and if so, how much it had cost. A small group of people followed after his brother, maybe three of four, but Jared didn’t pay as much attention to their numbers as to the fact that one of them held a baseball bat.  
  
“What are you doing here?” Jared asked, fighting through the lingering effects of the alcohol he’d ingested earlier. “What’s with the wolf?”  
  
“Well, Jared, I’d like you to meet my familiar. This is Rachel.” The wolf growled at him and Jared took a few steps back. “Rachel, heel,” his brother said, and the wolf turned and snapped at him three times before giving him the same low growl that had been previously directed at Jared.  
  
“You probably shouldn’t talk to your familiar like she’s an actual animal,” Jared said. “Now can you tell me what the hell you’re doing here, Jeremiah?”  
Jeremiah rolled his eyes. “Your company has something I need. I thought all you little wanna-bes would be at your party, but no, you and some nerd decided to work late. Or maybe there was something else going on? ‘Cause Jared, I can smell the alcohol on you from here.”  
  
Jared frowned and tried to process that. “Wait, first of all, you need a keycard to get in. Second, you do know the company keeps their stock in a warehouse and not here, and third, how do you even have a familiar, we’re not sorc—“  
  
“Shut up, Jared!” Jeremiah blustered. “For like five seconds! All you ever do is talk!”  
  
Jared glared. Apparently tonight was Interrupt Jared Night and he didn’t get the damn memo. Really, would it be that hard to answer his questions? At least it might forestall the guy holding the baseball bat who'd started aggressively tapping it against the palm of his free hand. It was pretty obvious that guy wanted to strike a home run with someone’s skull and – oh, God, where was Jensen? Jared swung his eyes back to where the tiny mouse was and saw that Jensen had tucked himself back under the desk. The tiny mouse put his finger to his (lips? Do mice have lips?) mouth in the universal shhh sign.  
  
It did nothing to calm Jared to see Jensen in his familiar form. Jensen was tiny enough to hide, yes, but that wolf (Rachel, his mind supplied) could snap him up in a heartbeat. It was true that familiars were notoriously hard to kill in their familiar form, but Jensen was just so small that Jared didn’t want to risk it. Jensen needed to stay hidden while Jared distracted his asshole of twin brother and talk him out of, well, whatever it was he thought he was doing.  
  
“Go sit down, Jared and we’ll be out of your hair in a minute or two,” Jeremiah said. He glanced back over his shoulder at Mr. Aggressive Baseball Bat. “Just tell us which office belongs to the CEO and we’ll get what we came for and get out.”  
  
Out of all the employees at Seventh Circle Supply, Pellegrino was the only one that Jared knew for certain was an actual sorcerer. On a normal day this intimidated the crap out of Jared and he was always relieved that he reported to Sheppard and not directly to Pellegrino. Pellegrino’s office was most likely warded against intrusions, both magical and physical.  
  
“You- you can’t!” Jared insisted. “It’s bound to be warded…“ Jared’s twin might be a jerk, but that didn’t mean that Jared wanted to see him get literally fried. “Besides, what could he possibly have in his office that you need?”  
  
“It’s more a matter of want, little brother,” Jeremiah said. He took four steps that brought him closer to Jared and dropped his voice into a near whisper. “You see, Pellegrino is in charge of guarding an amulet – an amulet that is rumored to allow a sorcerer to claim more than one familiar. Can you imagine the kind of power that a sorcerer could wield if they had five or six familiars? It’d be like a never ending battery source—“  
  
“But you’re not a sorcerer!” Jared blustered, feeling a flash of triumph that it was finally his turn to interrupt Jeremiah.  
  
“Jesus Christ, Jared, sit down and shut up!” Jeremiah swore and pushed Jared down into Jensen’s office chair. Jared’s breath was temporarily knocked out of him and his world tilted ever so slightly to the right. Apparently Jared had managed to set Jeremiah to Lecture Mode and he was about to get schooled.  
  
“Did you ever look at our parents and notice something off?”  
  
Jared’s eyebrows drew together as he tried to work out what his brother was inferring. Finally he gave up and just looked up at Jeremiah.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
Jared could practically hear his brother’s blood start to boil. He’d always had a talent for pissing Jeremiah off.  
  
“Look at Dad, Jared!” Jeremiah blustered. “He’s 5’2”!”  
  
“And a half,” Jared muttered weakly. Jeremiah blinked at him.  
  
“You mean to tell me you never, not once, thought ‘hey, I look absolutely nothing like my father, maybe dear old Mum had a fling?’”  
  
“Shut up,” Jared said with a sulk. “That’s Mom you’re talking about.”  
  
“Yes, dearest Mother,” Jeremiah said. “God Jared, you’re such a momma’s boy. I’m surprised we can’t see the astral manifestation of her apron strings.”  
  
“I still don’t, uh, understand how we’re sorcerers?” Jared fought against looking for Jensen again.  
  
“Well, I am, at least,” Jeremiah said, that frustrating sneer making a return. “I don’t know about you, but I got the gene. Mom must have had a little familiar blood in her. I wonder if our father was a sorcerer who tried to claim her. Must not have worked since he didn’t stick around, but hey, she got us out of it.”  
  
Jared was imagining all sorts of violent things he would do to his brother if he wasn’t inebriated. Or faced with a thug with a baseball bat. This sucked. Jared was pretty sure he was pouting.  
  
“Enough with the chit chat,” Jeremiah said, flinging something into Jared’s lap that he recognized as the keycard he’d lost – and had replaced – few weeks ago. The company must not have inactivated it after all. Then Jared realized this was all going to fall on him if Pellegrino came in to work to a ransacked office on Monday.  
  
Oh, shit. He couldn’t let this happen. Jeremiah smirked at him and then held out his hand. One of his lackeys rushed forward and handed him a silver flask from which Jeremiah took a long draught.  
  
“I’m not the only one drinking, I see,” Jared said with venom in his tone.  
  
“Yes, but I’m drinking with purpose,” his brother said. “Alcohol opens my third eye; it lets my powers increase. I won’t need the help once I have that amulet.”  
  
With that Jared decided he needed to put a stop to this. He surged up out his chair and lunged toward Jeremiah. If he’d been paying attention, he’d have seen the spark of delight in Baseball Bat’s eyes and noticed the swing.  
  
The baseball bat connected with Jared’s head with a loud crack, and Jared hit the floor.  
  
“Jared!” Jensen’s concerned little mouse voice reached his ears as he ran out from his hiding place, directly into Jeremiah’s line of sight. The last thing Jared saw was his brother snatching Jensen up by the tail in a lightning quick move.  
  
“Well, well,” Jeremiah’s voice swam through Jared’s head. “What do we have here?”


	4. A Little Bondage

Jared didn’t completely lose consciousness. His vision faded in and out, from black to white and all the colors in-between. He felt himself being moved as several hands grasped him and clumsily lifted him back into the office chair. Jared wasn’t really following the conversation, but he could tell that Jeremiah was pissed. Thankfully, at least this time, it wasn’t directed at Jared.  
  
“… if you touch my brother again!” Jeremiah was shouting. He caught a name: Ethan or Evan or maybe Ewan fucking McGregor for all Jared could tell and he wondered if that wasn’t Baseball Bat’s real name. Jared’s head lolled back and he blinked as his vision started to right itself. Jeremiah was using his full height to his advantage, looming over the blond guy who’d dropped the bat and was now actively cowering under his brother’s glare. After sufficiently cowing the lackey, Jeremiah turned his attention back to Jared.  
  
“Tie him to that chair,” he said, “while he’s still out of it.”  
  
Jared struggled, or at least it felt like he did. His muscles may have fluttered ineffectually a bit but the next thing he knew was he was securely tied to that damn chair, his hands lashed to the arm rests and another rope around his waist. He wasn’t completely immobile as his legs weren’t tied; he could probably scoot around the office a bit. He laughed aloud as he imagined trying to fight his brother while bound to the wheeled chair. This set off Jeremiah’s ire at the lackey again and he reached out and soundly hit the man upside the head.  
  
“If you fucked him up with that you can consider yourself unclaimed for good,” his brother growled, and suddenly it made sense – in a twisted sort of way. Jeremiah had already collected a parcel of familiars to claim – obviously unclaimed familiars who were just as desperate for a sorcerer to bond with that they either didn’t mind sharing or, and this was more likely, considered sharing a sorcerer to be a lesser evil than remaining unclaimed. Jared wondered if Jensen would soon be joining that little harem. After all, a sorcerer was a sorcerer and Jensen had never been interested in Jared before he realized that Jared was a sorcerer. And wasn’t that still a trip and a half? Jared, asorcerer. He felt another laugh bubble out of him. That was like the sky turning plaid and everyone just being like, “Meh, it does that sometimes”.  
  
It was the thought of Jensen that pulled Jared out of his stupor. He shook his head and blinked repeatedly, trying to order his thoughts. Jeremiah had Jensen! His Jensen.  
  
“Give me back my familiar,” Jared demanded. “He’s mine.”  
  
“This is your familiar? This little mouse?”  
  
Jeremiah held Jensen in his hand, his grasp tight – probably too tight. The mouse was glaring up at Jeremiah with malice and Jared hoped that Jensen wouldn’t bite his brother. Not that Jeremiah didn’t deserve it, he absolutely did, but then Jeremiah might drop Jensen and for a little mouse that was a long, long way down.  
  
“How hard do you think I’d have to squeeze him to make him pop?” Jeremiah taunted, holding Jensen close to Jared’s face. He tightened his grip and Jensen’s little eyes widened as he gasped.  
  
“Stop being an asshole, Jer,” Jared said. “I like the mouse. Please don’t hurt him. He didn’t do anything to you. Besides, I claimed him, so give him back.”  
  
“Actually, I’m pretty sure I interrupted your little claiming,” Jeremiah said with some amusement. Jared’s brother crouched low and spoke softly into Jared’s ear. “I could have fucked him, you know. While you took your sweet time doing whatever it was you were doing outside. He thought I was you and he was more than ready to bend over this desk and let me – ouch! You little bitch!”  
  
It took about half a second for Jared’s ears to stop ringing and to realize Jensen had in fact bit Jeremiah. A bead of blood welled up by his thumb and the mouse looked smug as hell.  
  
“It’s a good thing you’re pretty,” Jeremiah said, pulling one side of his upper lip into a sneer. “Otherwise my brother wouldn’t have looked twice at you. Really? A mouse, and an anthropomorphic one at that? Let me guess, you’re a gamer, and you live in your parent’s basement and you have no real life because no sorcerer worth his salt would claim you. Until my dimwitted brother came along, that is.”  
  
Jensen dropped his head and looked to the side. His ears drooped a little, like they had earlier when Jensen had thought Jared was rejecting him.  
  
“Fuck you,” Jensen managed to ground out. “You’re an asshole.”  
  
Jared agreed wholeheartedly with that sentiment. “Leave him alone!” Jared insisted again. “It’s not like he can stop you.”  
  
“You’re right,” Jeremiah said amiably. “He can’t do anything to stop me. But let’s see you claim this.”  
  
With that Jeremiah dropped Jensen on the floor where he scrambled back to his feet to run – only to be smashed flat by Jeremiah’s booted foot.  
  
“No!” cried Jared, horrified. “No! You fucking bastard! You – you killed him!”  
  
Jeremiah rolled his eyes and lifted his foot. Jared expected to see the gory remains of his familiar – Jensen – there, but all that remained was a puff of black smoke hanging on the air.  
  
“Wha- where is he? What did you do? What did you do to Jensen?” Jared was practically hysterical, fighting against the ropes that tied him to that damn office chair.  
Jeremiah’s minions – the other familiars – were laughing at him. He’d show them. He’d show every last one of them or die trying.  
  
“You really are an idiot, Jared,” Jeremiah said and it sounded more like a resigned sigh of acceptance than an insult. If anything, Jared was more insulted by it than if had been shouted at him. Jeremiah turned to his followers. “Put him in the office with the familiar. Make sure they’re tied tight and can’t get out.”  
  
Jeremiah leaned over Jared. “Don’t worry. As soon as I get the amulet and get out I’ll call in an anonymous tip so that you don’t stay tied up until Monday. Even I’m not that cruel. Just remember, by the time they get here and get you untied and processed, I’ll have claimed every one of these familiars. I’ll be unstoppable. If you don’t want people to die, I suggest you say you never saw your attacker. Got it?”  
  
Jared was defeated. He hung his head and tried not to let his emotions get the better of him.  
  
“Got it,” he said.  
  
Jared didn’t fight as they rolled him through the office and stuffed him, of all places, into Mark Sheppard’s office. Jensen was – well, Jeremiah had made it clear that Jensen wasn’t dead, but Jared wasn’t sure just what exactly had happened to the little familiar. Grief welled up in his chest, hot and thick and paralyzing, augmented by the thrumming in his skull. What if Jensen was hurt? What if—  
  
Jensen was tied up on the floor of the office, his hands and ankles bound. He lay there almost as if he was asleep, but if Jared focused he could detect the steady rise and fall of Jensen’s chest under his thin T-shirt. Jeremiah’s thugs paid no attention to Jensen’s prone body and rolled Jared to a stop about three feet away from him, close enough for Jared to reach out with one foot and prod him a little if he wanted to. He glared at his brother who stood in the doorway.  
  
“If he’s hurt…”  
  
In response Jeremiah only laughed, reaching down and running his long fingers through his wolf familiar’s fur.  
  
“You know what, Jared? Come talk to me once you’ve found a real familiar, and not Fievel Goes West.”  
  
“You know what, Jeremiah?” Jared countered. “Fuck off.”  
  
“Mature, little brother,” Jeremiah said with derision. With that, he shut the door, locking Jared and Jensen in Mark’s unlit office.  
  
“Perfect,” Jared sighed. “Just fucking perfect.”


	5. A Little Bonding

Jared sat in the dark for about a minute, waiting to make sure Jeremiah and his crew were truly gone before nudging Jensen with his foot. Jensen groaned and sat up.  
  
“Jared? Is that you?” Jensen sounded groggy, like he’d just woken up from a long nap.   
  
“Yeah,” Jared confirmed. “Are you okay?”  
  
“Just peachy,” Jensen said, and despite the sarcasm that was Jensen’s usual tone Jared assumed he was telling the truth. “I love having my familiar form stomped on and squished. It’s a hell of way to wake up.”  
  
“I’m sorry, what?” Jared was confused. “I thought you were dead; I was so scared for you.” Jensen sighed.  
  
“You don’t know much about familiars, do you?”  
  
“Guess not,” Jared said, sounding defeated. Really, this was turning into the worst night ever.   
  
“Hey, don’t be like that,” Jensen said softly. “Familiars don’t shape-shift; it’s a common misconception. Our familiar forms are physical, yes, but they’re formed out of the ether of the astral plane.”  
  
“Formed out of what?”   
  
“Magic,” Jensen said drily. “All you need to know is this – once I’ve formed my familiar my consciousness is in that body. If it dies, or gets destroyed then my consciousness automatically snaps back to this body. So I’m basically helpless and unconscious here while my mouse is out running around. It’s kind of why we allow the misconception that we shape-shift. And most of us make sure we’re in a completely secure area before forming. I tried to warn you.”  
  
“Oh,” said Jared. “Sorry. So can you bring your mouse form back and maybe get us untied? I have to stop Jeremiah from getting that amulet, if I can.”  
  
“Well we’ve got at least two hours before they break the wards on Pellegrino’s office, and that’s if they know what they’re doing. Do they?”  
  
“I- I don’t know,” Jared admitted. “I didn’t even know we were sorcerers until tonight, and I don’t know when Jeremiah figured it out.”  
  
“He does seem a bit quicker on the uptake—“  
  
“Hey!” Jared interrupted, indignant.   
  
“Sorry,” Jensen apologized. “And no, I can’t bring my familiar form back for a few good hours, since I’m unclaimed. It’s harder for the unclaimed to manifest their forms – most of us can only do it once a day. I can do it twice, if I’m lucky.”  
  
“You probably don’t want me to claim you anymore, do you?” Jared asked, afraid for the answer. His eyes were adjusting to the darkness and the little light that seeped into the office through the narrow, frosted window set into the office door. Jensen had pushed himself up onto his knees and now he inched slowly toward Jared until he was kneeling between Jared’s legs.   
  
“Of course I still want you to claim me, Jared,” Jensen said. “Just as soon as we get out of here. I’ll tell you a secret – I was kind of an ass to you this past month because I was mad at you for not being a sorcerer.”  
  
“Because that’s fair,” Jared said, distracted from his sarcasm by the proximity of Jensen’s mouth to his own. If he just leaned forward a little more—  
  
Jensen strained upwards a little more and his mouth met Jared’s, and it was not conducive at all to getting them out of their bonds, but Jared wasn’t about to stop this. Jensen’s mouth was made for kissing (and maybe other less PG activities). It was easy to get lost in that kiss, with as warm, wet and wonderful as it was, but Jared pulled away with a gasp.   
  
“Still not enough,” Jensen said, his voice husky. That tone settled low in Jared’s stomach and lower still. “God, I need you to claim me.”  
  
“I want to, Jensen,” Jared sighed. “But how? We’re both tied up.”  
  
Jensen lowered his head to Jared’s wrist and tried to tug at the knots with his teeth. After a minute or two of determined struggling, Jensen raised his head.  
  
“No good,” he grumbled. “Whoever tied these knots knew what they were doing. I’m not trying to break a tooth on a stupid knot.”  
  
Jared started to struggle against the binding.   
  
“Stop that,” Jensen admonished. “You’ll only make it tighter. Damn it! If only you’d been able to claim me earlier, I could reform my familiar form and we’d be out of these ropes in no time.”  
  
“Guess we’re stuck here for the duration,” Jared mumbled.   
  
“Wait, maybe not,” Jensen said, his posture straightening up. “Tell me to suck you off.”  
  
Jared almost flipped his chair over. “Tell you to what?” Jared’s voice squeaked at a register that almost made it sound like he was the mouse.   
  
“We could forge a temporary claim. You do know that for you to claim me, you have to fuck me, right? Or I could fuck you. Either way the claim has to be cemented by penetrative sex. Back in the old days they drank each other’s blood to form the bond, but this way is much less barbaric, at least I think so.“ Jensen kind of sounded like he was quoting a textbook. Hell, for all Jared knew, he probably was.  
  
“Yeah, I knew that much,” Jared said in a rush. “But you want me to order you to, uh,” Jared cleared his throat and whispered the next part, “suck me?”  
  
“Of course,” Jensen all but purred, leaning forward and arching up so that his chest was pressed against Jared’s. “You’re my master – you have to tell me to do it or it won’t work.”  
  
“Oh God,” Jared groaned as Jensen mouthed at the skin on his neck. Jared’s dick was definitely on board with this unexpected change of plans and making an obvious tent in the front of his loose pirate pants. Wow, this costume did not do well at even remotely hiding inappropriate (or in this case – appropriate) boners. Jared gave half a thought to leaving a review about that on the company’s website, but then his thoughts returned to more pressing matters. Namely, Jensen pressed tightly against him from neck to crotch and yeah, his dick really liked that.   
  
“Tell me, Master,” Jensen practically whined. “You have to tell me to do it.”  
  
“Do it, Jensen,” Jared gasped, his hips thrusting upward to show Jensen where to go just in case he’d somehow managed to miss it (even though this was all his idea). “Suck me.”  
  
“Want to,” Jensen rasped, his face nuzzling Jared’s stomach to lift the gauzy material of Jared’s pirate shirt above his belt. “I’ve wanted to since I first saw you, damn it. Bet you got a gorgeous cock.”  
  
Jared had always been a sucker for dirty talk and if Jensen didn’t shut up, well, Jared wasn’t going to last to do any kind of claiming, temporary or otherwise. “Hurry up and get your mouth on me,” Jared demanded, pulling a groan from Jensen. Huh. Apparently he was really into this wholeMaster thing. Jensen lowered his head and started using his teeth to work the leather strip of Jared’s belt out of its buckle. It was a cheap belt, really just for show and Jensen didn’t have too much trouble getting it undone. Jared’s pants were pretty simple too, no button and zipper to undo (although that would have been pretty hot, he thought). Jensen took the string that laced them up between his teeth and pulled gently, undoing the bow and loosing the pants. Jared looked down and saw Jensen pondering his boxers.   
  
“Lift your hips a little,” Jensen said finally. Jared was more than happy to comply as Jensen, still using his mouth, tugged them down on either side of his hips and then in the front, freeing Jared’s cock with what he’d almost call finesse.   
  
“Oh God,” Jared moaned. Jensen didn’t hesitate in the slightest, enveloping Jared in that perfect mouth. Jensen worked with precision, as if he knew just what would drive Jared crazy. It was only a matter of moments, it seemed, before Jared felt himself tense, pressure coiling tight in his belly. He barely had time to warn Jensen before he was coming, Jensen moaning like he was the one who’d just gotten off.   
  
Jared gasped and tried to catch his breath. As his heartbeat slowed his wits seemed to return. He looked down to see Jensen tucking him back in.  
  
“Do you want me to, you know, return the favor?” Jared asked, not wanting to be rude.   
  
“No time now,” Jensen said wistfully. He scooted back so that his back was resting against the wall of the office and shut his eyes. As he did, a small golden light appeared on Jared’s knee, quickly solidifying into the shape of Mouse Jensen.   
  
“I’m going to have to chew through the rope,” Jensen the Mouse explained. He climbed up the arm of the chair and looked at the rope in disgust. “Well, here goes nothing. Mom always is fussing at me to eat more fiber.”  
  
“Won’t this take like, forever?” Jared wondered aloud.   
  
“One thing about mice you may not be aware of,” Jensen said as he set to go to work. “We have really sharp frickin’ teeth.”  
  
Time seemed to slow as Jensen gnawed through one of the ropes and when it gave Jared’s arm came free suddenly, nearly knocking Jensen onto the floor.  
  
“Be careful, would ya?” Jensen groused. “That’s a long way down.”  
  
“Sorry, sorry,” Jared apologized as he went to work untying himself with his free hand. The rope around his waist was still tricky to untie since Jensen didn’t help with that, but finally, Jared was free. He grabbed his Mouse Jensen and deposited him into his vest pocket.  
  
“What now?” Jared asked.   
  
“Call the cops,” Jensen said. “I’d do it, but can you imagine me trying to lift that receiver?”  
  
Jared smiled at that. “I’ll do it. But the cops, really?”  
  
“Do you want to get blamed for this? Of course call the cops! Just let them know there’s a sorcerer involved so they send in the right kind of cops.”   
  
Jared untied Jensen's wrists and ankles and then did as instructed, wondering all the while just who the master was now. The voice on the line told him to stay put until backup arrived, but Jared wasn’t about to that. He had a score to settle, and amazingly, Jensen seemed to agree with him.  
  
“I’ll tell you a little something more about familiars, Jared,” he said. “Don’t ever underestimate them because of their size. I might be a mouse—“  
  
“What’s with that, anyway?” Jared interrupted. “No offense, I love it, but don’t you guys choose your forms?”  
  
“I’m going to let that slide this time, Jared, but don’t be an ass,” Jensen said. “Yes, we choose our forms. Most familiars manifest for the first time when they’re around thirteen, yeah? Well what you probably don’t know is that whatever form we choose that first time is the form we’re stuck with for life. Also, the younger a familiar is when they manifest the more powerful they’ll be when they grow up. I chose a mouse because my favorite book at that time was Stuart Little.”  
  
“Awww,” Jared said without malice. “That’s so cute.”  
  
“Shut up,” demanded Jensen. “Let’s get us out of here. Now, I want you to focus on the door and picture it opening. I want to you to want it to open so bad you can feel it in your gut. Now, when it feels like you can’t take it anymore and you’re about to explode, take your hand and imagine throwing that energy – that pressure – at the door.”  
  
“Okay,” Jared said. “But I thought sorcerers used, you know, spells?”  
  
Jensen scoffed. “Spells are for amateurs.”  
  
“Um, I kind of am an amateur,” Jared argued.  
  
“Yeah, but I’m not,” Jensen countered.   
  
Jared only nodded in response and did as he was told, imaging the power building inside his core until he was nearly bursting with it. In the next moment, he felt that energy move down his arm to his hand and he knew that it was ready. He hurled it at the door.  
  
The door exploded outward in a shower of splinters.  
  
“Holy shit,” Jared breathed, looking at the pile of wooden chips on the floor.   
  
“Oh, and Jared,” Jensen said. “When I first manifested? I was five.”


	6. A Little Less Talk

“Someone had to have heard that,” Jensen the Mouse said from Jared’s vest pocket. His little mouse paws were folded over the top of the pocket and he sounded very matter-of-fact about it.  Jared stood in the pile of wood chips that had previously been the door to Mark Sheppard’s office.  Fine sawdust granules still hung in the air, visible in the dim light and slowly settling to the ground. Jared coughed when he breathed them in. “The first thing we need to do is take out Jeremiah’s familiar.” 

“We’re gonna get our asses kicked, aren’t we?” Jared breathed, his confidence quickly diminishing. Jeremiah’s familiar was a wolf. Yeah, he was gonna get his ass kicked. And possibly his throat ripped out. And his own little familiar killed – again, maybe this time for real, and—

Shut up, Jared! Ah, Jared’s inner monologue was back, and just as helpful, it seemed. Jared shook his head to clear his thoughts and pay attention to his surroundings.

“I need you do exactly what I say, when I say it,” Jensen instructed. “Almost like you’re my puppet, got it?”

“Yeah,” Jared said. “Kind of like Ratatouille—“ And wow, if ever there was a more offended mouse, Jared would pay money to see it.

“I’m not a rat,” Jensen seethed.

“Obviously,” Jared responded immediately. Jensen looked a little appeased but turned his attention down the hallway. Jared was surprised that one of his brother’s minions hadn’t come sniffing around yet, and just as that thought registered one of them did, peering around the corner from down the hallway. Well, at least it wasn’t Baseball Bat.

“How did you get out?”  The other familiar shouted as he started marching aggressively toward Jared.

“What now?” Jared asked Jensen, gearing up to strike this guy down with lightning or a plague or something.

“Okay, gather the energy like you did in the office and—“

The other familiar cupped his hands and a bolt of pure white energy went crackling past Jared’s head.  Jared barely ducked out of the way as it sailed by.

“He’s unclaimed,” Jensen said with amazement in his voice. “How did he-?”

Jared parroted Jensen’s words to the other familiar, who smirked and pulled a medallion of some sort from under his shirt. It was small and glinted in the low light, hung around his neck by a piece of cheap looking string.

“There’s more than one way to do magic,” the familiar sneered. He kept striding down the long hallway, another ball of light forming in his hand.

“Run,” Jensen instructed, and Jared did, ducking into the maze of cubicles that housed the customer service department.  Balls of energy pinged around him (the cubicles were only waist high and didn’t really provide any cover) and finally something hit Jared in the back of his neck, stopping him in his tracks.  Jared tried to step forward, and that was when he felt the pain, like a fish hook threading through the skin on the back of his neck. Jared swatted at it, but it only caused the pain to spread.  It tugged at him, reeling him backwards toward the unclaimed familiar.

“Shit,” Jensen squeaked as he scurried up Jared’s vest to perch on his shoulder. “I need you to focus your energy, and then—“

Jared spun on his heel and with a quick jab he landed a punch right in the other man’s face.  The man dropped to the floor and was out like a light. Immediately the pain in Jared’s neck dissipated.

“Well that’s one way to do it,” Jensen said wryly.

“Hey it worked, didn’t it?” Jared rebutted.  Back in Jared’s pocket, Jensen shrugged.

“I guess. Grab that medallion, it may prove useful. Besides, it’s way too powerful of an object for that douchebag to have. We’ll turn it over to Pellegrino as soon as this is over.”

“Why does Pellegrino get all the magical knick-knacks?” Jared asked as he step gingerly around the fallen familiar. “Is he like head of the wizard council or something?”

“For this region, yes,” Jensen affirmed, clearly not recognizing Jared’s sarcasm. “Jesus, Jared, it’s common knowledge. Don’t you ever read the website?”

“Nah, I just fix it when it breaks,” Jared said, and if a mouse could roll his eyes Jared was sure Jensen was doing just that.

“What do I do with this guy?” Jared queried, nudging the unconscious man with one foot.  He reached down and grabbed the medallion, easily breaking the string with a one good yank. 

“Eh, leave him,” Jensen said. “The cops will deal with him when they get here.”

Jared nodded and crept out of the cubicles and back into the hallway that led from Cubicle Hell to the upper management offices. From that direction he could barely hear his brother and his cronies as they tried to subvert Pellegrino’s office wards.  About halfway there Jared stopped and pressed up against the wall. Pretty soon they were going to notice that Generic Minion Number Two hadn’t returned and probably send another one to investigate. Jared wanted to be ready when that happened.

“Do you think we should wait here?” he half-whispered. “Take them out one by one like I do in video games?”

Jensen huffed out what could only be a snicker.

“No,” he responded, “I think you need to get the drop on them and take them by surprise. I don’t have time to teach you anything fancy, so we’re going to just use your raw power like we did at the door. When you round that corner up ahead I want you ready to shoot that energy at the wolf.”

“Okay,” Jared nodded. “I think I can do that. What about Jeremiah.”

“No!” Jensen was quick to say. “If you aim that at a person you will shred them. It’s one thing to destroy a familiar’s form, but do you really want to kill your brother?”

“No, of course not!”

“Good. No, what I need you to do is once you’ve taken out the wolf, aim another bolt of that energy directly at Pellegrino’s office door.”

“But won’t that help my brother?” Jared asked, confused.

“You really think Mark’s door isn’t warded out the wazoo?” Jensen asked in a snide tone. “Of course you won’t be able to break the wards, but you will be able to set them off. Of course, I don’t know what the repercussions of that might be – it might kill us all for all I know – but it willkeep your asshole brother busy until the cops get here.”

“Wait, kill us?”

“Don’t focus on that, come on, let’s do this,” Jensen demanded, his ears pinning back ever so slightly and his nose pointed toward the upcoming confrontation.

“Sure, why not?” Jared forced himself not to laugh inappropriately. “Let’s go marching into certain death.”

“Oh would you stop with the dramatics?” Jensen huffed, irritated. “It’s not certain.”

Jared barely refrained from mimicking Jensen in a high-pitched, squeaky voice. That would probably not be well-received at the moment.  As he crept closer to the end of the hallway he tried to walk as softly as possible, pressing against the wall and taking deep breaths to calm himself.

One.

Two.

Three.

He closed his eyes and imagined the power growing in his body again, and to his surprise it came much faster and stronger than before.  When he opened his eyes and looked down, both his hands and Jensen were glowing.  Jensen looked up at him with what could only be described as a mousey smile, and nodded his head. It was time.

Jared threw himself around the corner, searching for and finding his brother’s wolf familiar. The animal was advancing on him, its teeth bared in a snarl, and just as it lunged Jared hurled his energy at it.  It hit the wolf head-on, throwing her backwards and eliciting a surprised yelp. She hit the ground and slid a good couple of feet, but it did not destroy her form.  She struggled to her feet and Jared was rather horrified to see that her fur was smoking.

“Again, Jared!” Jensen screeched from Jared’s pocket, and before Jared could even think of summoning the energy, his hands shot out and another bolt shot out, this time visible and very much like what the unclaimed familiar had thrown at him earlier. It hit the wolf and her entire form was engulfed in flames.  It lasted only a second, and when the flames died, the wolf was gone as well.  Jared turned his attention to his brother and his two remaining lackeys, who were still staring at him in shock.

Jeremiah was the first to recover.

“How – How dare you?”

That hadn’t been what Jared had expected Jeremiah to say, not by a long shot. All the times Jared had wanted to punch Jeremiah and refrained boiled to the surface.

Jeremiah, at five, spraying himself in the face with yellow spray paint (accidentally) and then blaming it on Jared, who took the paddling.

At nine, Jeremiah stealing Jared’s giant pink souvenir pencil he’d gotten from Wonder World in San Marcos and writing “Jeremiah Arthur Padalecki”all over it in permanent marker. With a name as long as that he’d only been able to fit it twice, but still, it wasn’t his. He’d avoided punishment by swearing to God that he’d thought it was his, and finally Jared had just let him have it.

At sixteen, Jeremiah speeding around the corner of the driveway and spinning out on the gravel, propelling the car into the mailbox post – the iron, cemented into the ground mailbox post and then having Jared drive the rest of the way up to the house because he “was too shaken up” only to jump out and shout, “guess what Jared did?” as soon as their parents came out to investigate.

This time, Jared wasn’t going to take the fall for Jeremiah. He’d be damned first.

“Excuse me? How dare I?”

“Yes!” Jeremiah raged. “How did you even get out of that room? What happened to Aaron?”

“I guess my familiar isn’t as unclaimed as you thought he was,” Jared sneered, feeling a rush of confidence. Now that Jeremiah’s familiar was gone, so was his ability to use his magic.

“So you fucked him while you were both tied up? You know, if you weren’t my brother that’d be kinda hot.”

 “God, Jeremiah, gross,” Jared said, his lip wrinkling up in disgust.

 Jeremiah turned to his two minions, who were hovering eagerly, just waiting for Jeremiah’s orders. “You know what, kick his ass. You have free license to teach him a lesson.”

“Jared! What are you waiting for! Now!” Jensen’s tiny mouse voice was laced with urgency.  It spurred Jared to action and he summoned his power – it was a bit slower this time – but summon it he did before the lackeys reached him. He let the power fly, aimed straight for Pellegrino’s door.  It whizzed by Jeremiah’s head, missing him by a hair’s breadth.  It hit the door with a thud and promptly disintegrated. Jeremiah smirked.

“Looks like you missed, Little Brother,” he said, his smirk growing into a full-fledged grin. The other two familiars turned to look at the door and laughed, and Jared felt his own smile lift the corners of his mouth. Feeling confident, he strode up to Jeremiah and, drawing back his fist, punched him solidly in the nose.

“Ow, you asshole!” Jeremiah cried, cradling his face. Blood dripped from between his fingers and Jared sincerely hoped he’d broken his nose. “Oh, I’m so gonna kick your a—“

And that was when all hell broke loose.

The power bomb that Jared had lobbed haphazardly at the door caused a sort of ripple effect.  The walls seemed to sway as if covered in water, or perhaps made of water, and the effect spread quickly outward until all of them were surrounded by it, whatever it was. Jeremiah looked around with wide, scared eyes and Jared was pretty sure his own expression mirrored that of his twin’s. Jensen disappeared into Jared’s pocket and curled into a tiny ball of fur as the world imploded inward on them. Jared couldn’t move; he could barely breathe.  Tiny pinpricks of what felt like electrical shots jolted through his body, coursing through his arms and legs – and then everything went dark.

* * *

 

  “Jared Padalecki. Jared. Can you hear me?”

Jared felt someone’s hand gently slapping the skin of his face, alternating from side to side. The voice sounded muffled, but he recognized it as Pellegrino’s voice.  His eyes fluttered open and he realized he was sprawled on his back, arms and legs akimbo.  He blinked slowly and took a deep, wonderful breath of air.

“Jensen!”  Jared tried to sit up, but was immediately dizzy and nearly toppled back over. Pellegrino grabbed his shoulder and helped him find his equilibrium, and then helped him to his feet.

 “Jensen’s fine.  He’s downstairs with the police, making his statement. You’re gonna need to give one too, and probably be checked out at the hospital. That was quite a thing you did, stopping your brother like that. And a newbie as well. I’m impressed.”

“Don’t want to go to the hospital,” Jared muttered, trying to process what Pellegrino had just said to him. Really he just wanted to make sure Jensen was okay, to touch him and claim him properly.

Yes, claim him!  And that voice was back. Wonderful. Still, Jared was pretty sure he should start listening to it. Especially when he remembered how great Jensen’s mouth had felt on him.

 “Hey, okay,” his boss said.  “At least get yourself checked out by the EMTs, okay?”

“Okay,” Jared said dumbly, allowing himself to be led downstairs and outside. There were so many people running around and lights flashing, and Jared couldn’t see Jensen anywhere. His head hurt, and he was tired. Maybe he could get this over with quickly and go home and crash for a week.  He’d earned some time off with all of this, surely.

Some men in dark uniforms came up and asked him what happened, exactly, and Jared explained in what was probably the least coherent version they’d gotten so far. The next thing he knew he was sitting in the back of the ambulance with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders while EMTs poked and prodded at him. Finally they said he was fine to go home, but he probably had a concussion and shouldn’t go to sleep for a few hours. Jared was about to throw the world’s biggest hissy fit when finally, finally Jensen found him.

And Jared realized he couldn’t see Jensen’s mouse ears or tail anymore. He felt disappointed and said as much.

“Oh,” Jensen said.  “Does that mean you don’t want to claim me after all?”

Jared reached out and grabbed hold of Jensen’s shirt, hauling him close.

“What gave you that ridiculous idea?” he all but growled. Jensen glanced around at all the people swarming around, and Jared followed his gaze in time to see one of the unclaimed familiars being put in the back of a cop car.

“Well, it’s just, you know, there’s so many unclaimed familiars and you probably wouldn’t want to be saddled with a ridiculous familiar like acartoon mouse. And it’s okay, Jared, it really is – I’m used to—“

Jared shut him up by covering his lips with his own and kissing him soundly.  “You know,” Jared said, his lips brushing against Jensen’s as he spoke. “I’m getting a little tired of you insulting my familiar. When I get you home I’m going to claim you so hard the entire city will know about it. Are we clear?”

“Sir, yes, Sir,” Jensen snarked with a smile.  


End file.
